What You Should Know When You Go To A Shelter or Rescue:
We find it extremely annoying when the first thing out of
your mouth is “where is all the puppies?” or “why don’t you have any kittens?”.
We are a charity that takes in unwanted, abused and neglected animals – not a pet
store stocking puppy mill dogs.
If you have to surrender an animal to us – there will always
be a fee. You’re coming to us because we’re likely to adopt out your friend,
unlike animal control which will take every animal for free – and euthanizes for
time and space (typically 5 days). Help us take care of your old responsibility.
Do not tell us you are “donating” you animal(s). Do not ask
to exchange you animal for one of ours. Also, just so you know, we make notes
on our interactions and all shelters associated with us will know what took
place.
We do a counseling session and let you meet the animal
because pets have individual personalities and we want to make forever homes.
If your counselor keeps telling you warnings, such as “this dog is mouthy” or “this
kitten is very high energy”, please consider the implications of that on your
daily life – and that it may be something the animal never fully overcomes. It’s
okay to wait for a more suited animal for you to come along, if necessary.
We appreciate your donations, and encourage you to volunteer
if you want to interact with the animals. We always need fosters, dog walkers,
people to play with cats and more! However, if you’re just visiting – please mind
the signs. Most shelters discourage touching animals in their cage. It spreads
disease, it invades their territory, it’s stressful for them, and it can be
dangerous to you. Shelter employees tire very much in reminding you of the
signs hanging. Please be respectful.
There’s no such thing as the perfect pet. People come in
remembering only the best things of their childhood family dog, and want an
animal that’s low maintenance, calm, quiet, and already fully trained. This can
only be achieved by years of hard work. Most animals turned in to the shelter
were unwanted for not being housetrained, being too energetic, jumping,
barking, etc. By rescuing an animal in need, you’re assuming the task others weren’t
up to. Take pride in yourself and be willing to work with an animal.
Yes, puppies and kittens cost more. Even though we’re a
non-profit, we can’t operate on the meager fees we ask for the adult animals. If
price is a problem, please look elsewhere instead of throwing a tantrum in our
lobby.
If you want to make an impact, walk slowly through our
shelter, and spend extra time on a second trip to notice the animals you
overlooked the first time. Chances are, they are black animals or unwanted
breeds like pit bulls. Watch them, and consider if they would make a good fit
for your family (and please consider whether your home or hometown bans certain
breeds, it’s your job to protect these pets). If they fit the bill, meet them
over the cute german shepherd puppy you wanted to looked at before.
If you see a shelter attendant running, rushing or with a
large load in their arms, it probably isn’t the best time to ask them a
question. Being caught with 3 bags of
45lb cat litter, or if you’re trying to get to a time pertinent task such as
removing an aggressive dog from the lobby, makes it difficult for us to provide
good service to you. Be wise, and if you can’t find someone who seems available,
go back to the front desk – it’s why they are there.
There are times of day when employees or volunteers will
walk dogs. Please do not touch the animal (again for your safety and for the
health of the animals), and stand to one side as we walk them out. We try to
make it obvious with our body language that these dogs need room and respect.
If you need to pick up your toddler to ensure they get it, then please do so.
We are not a daycare. While at our shelter no one under 18
is allowed into the shelter without supervision that does not mean once you are
viewing animals you should let your child run rampant. It’s extremely
dangerous, and very stressful to the animals. Shelter attendants already must
watch out for our animals, we can’t be babysitting your child as well. That
being said, we understand kids will say silly things, will try to talk over us,
may grab our hand or pants, etc while doing a counseling session. You don’t
need to constantly reprimand them. All we ask is you make sure they are being
respectful to the animal and maintaining a safe environment for both the animal
and child.
If you see an adoption event going on at your local pet
supply store, don’t fret! These animals have a clean bill of health and enjoy
the interaction with others in a new environment. Come say hello, pet and have
fun. If you aren’t interested in adoption, don’t pretend you are, we just
appreciate getting the animals some much needed social interactions. Please
approach as if they are someone’s pet and ask if they are ok to be petted. The
biggest help comes when you can leave some donations, even loose change. But if
you see someone who may be interested in actually taking home the animal you’re
loving on, please give them room to meet their possible future pet!
Sometimes, we do deny adoptions. If you owe us money (our
particular shelter has a Vet Clinic attached you may have unpaid bills at), if
you say something concerning to us, or if we know the animal you are interested
in will not be a viable match – we will tell you no. And we will always tell
you why. It’s never meant to be personal, and normally it’s a temporary problem
that you can fix and come in again to find a pet in the future. An appropriate
reaction will be a thank you, and you can go home to rectify the issues. An inappropriate
response is threatening us, trying to steal the animal, or screaming. You’re an
adult, act like it.
Surrendering your animal is a permanent option, and perhaps eternally
so for your animal in particular. There are very limited no-kill shelters in America,
and most of the time they are full and cannot accept your loving pet. You
better be sure you are making the right decision by your animal. If you notice
the front desk attendant is saying to you “we are not a no kill shelter, we do
not guarantee adoption. We do euthanize for health and behavior” or more, and
seems to be saying it an unusually numerous amount of times – then you’ve
probably said or indicated (or perhaps your animal showed a behavior) that we
think means we won’t be able to make your animal adoptable. Aggression, even
fear based, can lead to the end of your friend. We need
to be able to process the animal – that means shots, nail clipping,
inspections, restraining, ear cleaning and more. If YOU can’t do those things
to your animal, then we can’t. It’s your job to have raised your animal to the
best of your ability and desensitize them to common handling techniques and new
situations. You can’t pass off your irresponsible mistakes onto others. If you
absolutely cannot keep them, please do your best to rehome them yourself. The
shelter is the closest your animal will come to death.
Spay and neuter your pet! Microchip your pet! There are
always events going on for cheap or even free services, and you just need to
look. During the summer we get flooded with feral animals having litters, and
between that and rescues coming en masse from hoarding situations and puppy
mills, we hardly ever have room for private pets – the most likely to be adoptable.
We want to serve the public, and when you don’t fix your animal it adds to the
problem. And when you don’t microchip them, and they are brought in as a stray,
they take up valuable room – not to mention it lowers the possibility of us
finding the animal’s owner.
